When the pain just won't stop, we can help.
Everyone experiences pain occasionally.
You get a headache when you're tired or tense or something triggers your allergies. You hurt your back picking up a heavy package. Your arthritis kicks up every once in a while, particularly in the cold, damp winter months. It's a nuisance, but you take something--aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, or if the doctor prescribes it, something stronger. Maybe you get out the heating pad. In a little while, the pain goes away.
Chronic pain is different. Aspirins and heating pads don't help. It doesn't respond to any kind of conventional treatment, and it doesn't go away. If your pain is chronic, you should be evaluated by a specialist in pain management.
How do you know if you have chronic pain syndrome?
Regardless of whether or not you are suffering from an underlying illness, your pain is considered chronic if it:
- has lasted more than three months
- doesn't respond to medication
- won't let you sleep
- keeps you from eating
- keeps you from working
- disrupts your relationships with family and friends
- has caused you to lose interest in everything.
Any kind of chronic pain can be helped. Here are just a few typical examples:
- facial pain
- headaches
- pain that doesn't go away after an attack of herpes zoster (shingles)
- low back pain
- neck pain
- postoperative pain that continuous for months after an operation
- severe arthritis
- cancer.
How can the Pain Management Service help?
The Pain Management Service at The Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center is staffed by physicians who are specialists in pain management.
When you come to the Service, we begin by giving you a complete physical and psychological evaluation, including any additional diagnostic tests that may be needed. This evaluation helps us to pinpoint the cause of the pain and, equally important, to determine how it has affected your life.
Based on the results of this evaluation we will design a treatment plan for you. This plan may involve only one type of therapy or, more likely, a combination of several. We offer a full range of techniques and cover all modalities of pain management for adults and children. We will send your physician a full report of our findings and proposed treatment plan. We would be happy to work with your physician in planning and carrying out your treatment.
The Pain Management Service is located at The Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center. We accept assignment from Medicare, Medicaid and other insurance. If you do not have insurance, we will be pleased to work out a comfortable payment schedule for you. Free, indoor parking is available. |
